


Breakthru

by mugglerock



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gen, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 12:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1983801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugglerock/pseuds/mugglerock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A deeper look into why David Karofsky is such a bully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written prior to episode 2x08 and definitely prior to the exactly which of Dave's parents are caring/supportive. This is being uploaded from my other fanfiction handles/sites. I do not own any of the characters and no profit is being made.

Prologue

It all started when he was seven years old, curiosity drawing him into his mother's closet while she was occupied downstairs, preparing dinner whilst his father was still at work. It started with an attempt at walking in a pair of red high heeled shoes that were far too large for his feet. He stumbled with his first few steps, but felt incredibly pleased with himself when walking became easier. He giggled as his new found height made it a little easier to look through all of the garments hanging in the closet. He found a pink baby doll dress tucked near the back of the closet and pulled it down. He pulled it over his head, falling loosely over his seven-year-old frame and reaching to his ankles like a proper dress, covering his corduroy pants and only showing a portion of his blue's clues striped green t-shirt at the top. He stepped out of the closet and approached the full length mirror across the room, with very few stumbles. He stared at his reflection, admiring the dress and giggling at himself when he fell, attempting to twirl.

At that moment the door was pushed open, the little boy looked in the reflection of the mirror and watched in trepidation as his father's face contorted, in a hideous and almost monstrous way. At first he appeared confused but it quickly morphed into something akin to disgust and rage. He approached his son with quick and pounding footsteps. The man roughly grasped the seven year old's left arm and yanked him upwards,

"What the hell are you doing?" His voice dangerously low as the words came out dripping with disdain.

The little boy could only yelp in pain, far too frightened to answer the man's question. After a few more seconds of silence, his father bent down and grasped both of the boy's shoulders. "You answer me, boy!"

The child's lip started to tremble as his eyes watered, "I… Daddy, I'm sorry."

The man started shaking his son, "Don't you DARE start crying!"

Out of nowhere his mother appeared and pulled his father away from him, "Why are you yelling at him like that?"

The seven year old boy crawled as quickly as he could towards the wall farthest from his angry father, doing his best to not start sobbing. His father pulled away from the grip his mother had on his collared shirt.

He pointed towards his son, "He's wearing a dress, like a little faggot! You coddle him too much, look at him, he's hiding in the corner, crying like a little sissy!"

"He's only seven, Paul! He doesn't know any better! And you screaming at him and shaking him would make anybody cry!" His mother approached her son, knelt down, and pulled him into her arms, "Shhhh, baby, it's okay, Daddy didn't mean to frighten you."

Paul scoffed in disgust, "If our kid turns out queer, it'll be your fault, Rebecca." He threw another disgusted look in his son's direction before stomping out of the room.

"Am I a sissy, Momma?" He carefully looked up, sniffling and biting his lip.

She gently stroked his face, "Oh, baby. No, you aren't, just so long as you don't do this anymore, okay?"

He nodded and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "I'm sorry, Momma! I won't, I won't."

She smiled at him, "Good boy. Come on, let's get you out of my clothes and go downstairs for dinner." She gently pulled the dress over her son's head and grabbed the shoes that had been left haphazardly in front of the bed when her son had crawled away from his angry father. She bent slightly and held her hand out for her son, "Come on, Dave. I made macaroni and cheese for you."

He pulled his shirt up to wipe his face and grabbed his mother's hand. As they walked from the bedroom to the dining room, the little seven year old decided then and there that no matter what, the last thing David Karofsky would ever become was a sissy, or a faggot – whatever that was.


	2. Chapter 2

Dave Karofsky stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been two weeks since he lost the battle with his conflicting emotions and kissed Kurt Hummel. He didn't look any different. He didn't look queer. He scowls at himself as he hisses, "Fucking idiot." All of the hard work spent disassociating himself with anything remotely gay; the locker slams, slushies, dumpster tosses, and verbal slurs, and he still found himself giving into his immoral desires and kissing the object of his obsession. His heart is heavy with guilt, self-hatred, and desire as he recalls the kiss. He has to quell an urge to punch the mirror. Instead he spits at his reflection, "You are NOT a homo. You are NOT a sissy."

His thoughts are disturbed by his mother calling out to him, "Dave, come eat something before school!"

He shakes his head and wipes the dripping spit from the surface of the mirror with the sleeve of his jacket. He stares once more at the now slightly blurred reflection and sighs, "You can't be a homo."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt found himself at school a little earlier than usual that day. He had found coming in a little later did not spare him from the continuous and worsening torture from Karofsky and his cronies. Perhaps coming in earlier would enable him to get to his class earlier and at least miss out on the morning harassment. He sighs with relief when he walks into the hallway where his locker is and finds the place nearly deserted. He had never been more grateful for getting his driving privileges back, not to mention how busy Carole was keeping his father with preparations for the wedding that weekend. It gave him an unbelievable amount of time to spend with Blaine without any questions being asked. He opens his locker and stares contentedly at the framed picture hanging on the inside of the door. His new budding friendship with the courageous, not to mention gorgeous, Warbler made the insane revelations and increased torment of the past few weeks seem almost insignificant. For the first time, since he came out of the closet, he feels he has the chance to truly be happy.

His reverie is rudely interrupted by Karofsky slamming his locker shut. Kurt jumps back, partly from surprise and partly as his now instinctual self-preservation mode kicks in. Kurt rolls his eyes. So much for arriving early to avoid his daily dose of locker metal. "I'm really starting to get bored with these tactics, Karofsky. Can't you at least come up with something fresh? Perhaps a 'kick me' sign on my back or maybe a wedgie? Seeing as that appears to be the level of maturity you are at…"

Karofsky scowls, "I'm just checking in, making sure you're keeping your mouth shut."

Kurt folds his arms across his body, "I haven't said anything."

Karofsky smiles, a vicious and almost feral glint in his eyes, "Good."

As the larger boy turns to walk away, Kurt finds himself already regretting what he is about to say, but unable to stop himself, "You do realize every time you slam my head into my locker, my memory gets a little fuzzy. What am I not supposed to tell people? Oh, was it that the big, bad, Karofsky…" Kurt looks around to make sure there are still no students and lowers his voice, "kissed the fabulous, ladyboy, Hummel?"

Karofsky spins around so quickly it almost makes his head spin. He grasps Kurt by the lapels of his designer jacket and pushes him up against the locker, "Why can't you just learn to shut the fuck up?" 

Kurt wonders that himself as the pain in his back from the pressure of the padlock starts to intensify. "Why must you resort to second grade tactics to get the attention of someone you like?" Kurt closes his eyes in regret of his stupid mouth and in preparation for the blow he is almost entirely certain is about to come. He flinches when he hears Karofsky's fist slam into the locker next to his right ear. Kurt slowly opens his eyes and is instantly bombarded with anger laced with immense pain in the eyes of his tormentor.

"I'm not a goddamned homo, Hummel."

Kurt decides to keep pushing his luck and asks with complete sincerity, "Then why did you kiss me, Karofsky?"

The larger boy blanches. The question had honestly never occurred to him. He'd spent so much time trying to convince himself and everyone else, that the last thing he ever could be in the world was queer. But someone who isn't queer would not have kissed another boy, nor would he currently be suppressing the urge to kiss the aforementioned boy again. He decides to go with his original tactic and grits out, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kurt couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for his tormentor in that moment. It is short lived, but he feels it none-the-less. He sighs, "You know, Karofsky, denial can only take you so far before you get eaten alive by your repressed emotions."

In that moment, Karofsky feels himself losing the battle with his urge, he draws closer to Kurt's face, doing what he can to mask the pain in his voice, "Why can't you just disappear?"

Kurt's breath hitches, he is terrified the larger boy is going to kiss him again, but not too terrified to reply, "You can't make your feelings disappear." His eyes grow large when he realizes that Karofsky is, indeed, drawing in closer.

Before he can even shut his eyes and prepare for another mouth assault, Azimio appears out of nowhere, "What are you doing, Karofsky?"

Karofsky jumps away from Kurt, causing the smaller boy to almost fall from the loss of momentum. That's when the jock notices a few more students had started to come in. He had almost completely forgotten himself. He keeps eye contact with Kurt and rolls up the sleeves of his jacket, "The homo here hit on me."

Kurt scoffs and attempts to smooth out the creases in his jacket, "I did no such thing."

Azimio doesn't bear his usual grin that torturing the self-deemed lower peers brought him, instead he looks positively revolted. He approaches Kurt and grabs his arm, "Disgusting, we gotta teach this fag a lesson."

Before Kurt could try to wriggle out of the larger boy's grip, or protest, or anything, he is met with an overwhelming amount of pain to his midsection. This was new. The bullies of McKinley had never resorted to actual violence before. Kurt is bent over, trying to regulate his now ragged breathing when Azimio lays another blow into his side. Kurt cries out this time. When Azimio kicks the side of his knee, Kurt falls to the ground. The few students that were in the hallway watched on in horror, but no one was brave enough to intervene.

Azimio turns to his friend, "Come on, show this fag that he can't get away with that shit!"

Karofsky felt torn at that moment. He never wanted to actually hurt Kurt, he just wanted to make the smaller boy feel physically the way he, himself, felt emotionally. A wave of nausea hits him, he doesn't want to kick this boy who had done nothing to deserve this, but he can't let Azimio down. Just as he is about to land a kick into Kurt's midsection, he is impeded by a loud, "Stop!"

He turns and sees the new kid, Sam, running towards Kurt. The blond bent down near his friend and touched his shoulder, "Kurt, are you okay?"

The smaller boy coughs in reply, but nods half-heartedly. Sam turns around and steps towards Azimio, "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

Azimio scoffs, "Your boyfriend here tried to come on to Karofsky, we had to teach him a lesson."

Kurt lets out a weak, "No, I didn't."

Sam furrows his brow, "You ignorant homophobes, even if he had come on to you, so what? No one deserves the shit being kicked out of them."

Azimio invades Sam's space and shoves him, "You homos all got to stick together, don't ya?"

Sam shoves the larger boy back, "No, but us decent human beings need to!"

Azimio reels a little at actually being shoved by someone else, but his confusion quickly turns to rage. He balls up his fist and smashes it right into the side of the blond boy's head. Sam stumbles and trips over Kurt. Azimio grabs the blond by his shirt and lifts him up off of the ground without any effort. He leans him against the lockers and starts laying punches into his abdomen. He then yanks Sam forward and throws him against Karofsky, looking at his fellow bully expectantly. Karofsky lets out a small sigh, punches the blond in his right peck and pushes him to the ground. Azimio starts to kick Kurt and Sam in intervals.

As more students start shuffling into the hall, they all found themselves stopping and simply staring at the display. Karofsky looks around and is stunned at the lack of response. The Sam kid was nowhere near as big as himself or Azimio and still attempted to stop it. He grabs his friend and pulls him back, "That's enough."

Azimio attempts to wrestle out of Karofsky's grip when Will Schuester turns the corner. The teacher's eyes widen in utter shock as the projected image he is seeing connects to his brain. He runs to the two boys on the ground, "Oh my god, Sam! Kurt! What happened?" Neither boy was capable of saying anything at that point. They simply let out a combincation of a groan and a cough. He wheels around and stares at Azimio and Karofsky, "You two, go to the principal's office, NOW."

Karofsky is taken aback, he had never seen Mr. Schuester that angry. Azimio rolls his eyes, "They deserved it!"

The teacher's face contorted with disgust, "If you both aren't in the principal's office in five minutes, I am calling the police and having them deal with you. Go, NOW!"

As Karofsky tugs on his friend's letter jacket sleeve to guide him in the direction they need to go, Finn and Puckerman come out of nowhere and rush to help Mr. Schuester bring Sam and Kurt to their feet. Finn glares at Karofsky as he helps Kurt start to walk. 

Karofsky for the first time in all of this actually feels ashamed. He looks down and keeps walking towards the principal's office as he had been told to do.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dave is sitting outside of the principal's office, hearing the faint sounds of yelling coming from inside. Azimio was inside, with Principal Sue, Mr. Schuester, and his father. At that moment, it sounds like Sue is the one yelling. He can faintly make out words, "Unacceptable," "Zero tolerance," and "expulsion." Dave feels his throat go dry. A few minutes later Azimio walks out looking truly stunned, shortly followed by his father, who stops in the doorway,

"Please extend my sincerest apologies to both the boys' parents and if you can," Mr. Adams pulls a business card out of his pocket, "Please have them contact me if either of the families wish to press charges against my son for assault."

Dave's eyes widen, 'Assault charges? What the fuck have I done?' He lowers his head and ruffles his hand through his hair. Mr. Adams grabs his son's arm and practically drags him out of the school. Dave sits there for a few minutes, his head reeling from recalling everything that had just happened. How did another almost kiss turn into possible criminal charges? He is shaken from his thoughts by Mr. Schuester calling him into the office. He dazedly moves to sit in the closest chair as the door is closed behind him.

"We've contacted your father, so we will wait for his arrival before we go into detail of your punishment." Sue says in a monotone that was more terrifying than her yelling.

Dave nods mutely and before he can process the bizarre tone of the Cheerio coach turned principal, his father barges through the door.

"What the hell is this about? Dragging me out of work?"

Mr. Schuester points to the chair next to Dave, "Please have a seat, Mr. Karofsky."

His father just stands in the doorway, his arms folded in aggravation, "Just tell me why the hell I'm here."

"Your son's possible expulsion," Sue snaps.

Mr. Schuester sighs, "Your son and a friend assaulted two fellow classmates this morning."

Mr. Karofsky narrows his eyes and looks at Dave, "This true?"

Dave nods again. He winces in preparation of the verbal onslaught he is about to receive, but it never comes. Instead, his father shuts the door and sits next to his son. Paul looks up and directs his next question toward Principal Sue, "So, what are we talking about here?"

She turns her nose upward, "We're talking about my zero tolerance for violence in this school and possible assault and hate crime charges."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Karofsky scowls.

Mr. Schuester is about to interject when the door slams open again. Everyone turns to look in the direction of the sudden noise. Burt Hummel is standing in the doorway, his face red with anger.

Mr. Schuester approaches the man, "Mr. Hummel, please, this is a private meeting."

"I want to look in the eyes of the coward who beat the hell out of my son just for being gay!"

Dave ducks his head in shame. Mr. Karofsky stands and looks at the man in the doorway, "Your son's a queer?"

Burt's eyes narrow at the man, "So, what if he is?"

Mr. Schuester interrupts, directing his response towards Mr. Karofsky, "Azimio had stated that the reason they attacked Mr. Hummel's son initially was because he had made a pass at your son, and the other boy had intervened to protect Kurt…"

"You're telling me the little fag tried to come on to my son? Then it sounds like he got what was coming to him! That sort of behavior is unacceptable! We should file sexual harassment charges against the queer."

Mr. Schuester moves quickly to restrain Burt and hold him back from leaping across the room to attack Mr. Karofsky. Burt is unintelligibly screaming random profanities. The teacher finally gets the angry man to calm down, telling him his son needs him and that requires prevention of another heart attack.

"What's unacceptable, Mr. Karofsky, is beating a boy up for his sexual orientation." Sue states in the most serious tone of voice Dave has ever heard.

"If this queer came on to my son, then he can't be held accountable for his actions, this is ridiculous! David, did this boy come on to you?"

Dave looks around, four sets of eyes staring at him expectantly. His heart starts hammering in his chest. Even though he technically had not been the one to physically attack Kurt, he did kick Sam and stood idly by while his friend to beat the shit out of the both of them. He is facing expulsion, possible criminal charges, two very angry fathers, and two even angrier teachers. His head starts spinning. What had he done? All because he can't be fucking honest with himself? His breathing gets ragged. He'd never had a panic attack before, but he is pretty certain that this is how they start. How the fuck had he gotten himself into such a mess?

His train of thought is interrupted by his father, "Well, David?"

He looks away from the four pairs of eyes and focuses on a spot on the wall across the room. He inhales sharply and quietly replies, "No."

His father's tone gets dangerously low, "What?"

Dave decides if he is going to come clean, he is going to come completely clean. He lifts his head and looks his father directly in the eye, "I said, 'no', Dad. Kurt did not hit on me. I…" He starts wringing his hands in dread, but he forces himself to continue, "I came on to Kurt. Azimio walked in on it, so I told him Kurt started it and he kind of lost it. I…"

"I don't want to fucking hear anymore." His father practically spits. He brushes off his jacket and turns to Principal Sue, "Whatever punishment you decide to give him is fine with me. Whatever you want to do with him is probably only too good for him. We're done here." He approaches the door to leave and Dave starts to stand up and follow when his father halts him, "You stay here. You are NOT to come home, do you understand me, boy?"

Dave ducks his head and mutely nods his understanding.

"Mr. Karofsky that's a little drastic…" Mr. Schuester starts.

"This conversation is finished. Please do not contact me again in regards to David." The older man leaves the office without even so much as a look back to his son.

Mr. Schuester finally releases Burt, who stares dumbly at the scene he had just witnessed. A part of him wants to chase after the ignorant bigot and beat the everloving shit out of him. But, for his son's sake, he remains where he is.

Principal Sue looks at Dave, "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

Dave sighs, biting his lip to stop the tears from coming. "Just, I started it, but I never hit Kurt. I kicked that Sam kid, and I stood by and let it happen, but I never hit Kurt." He briefly looks up to make eye contact with Kurt's father, his voice shaking with unadulterated regret, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Hummel."

Mr. Schuester looks at Sue, "I think one week's suspension will be punishment enough, if Mr. Hummel finds that acceptable."

Burt looks to Dave and at that moment, feels incredibly sorry for young man in front of him. This kid was really messed up and with a father like that, he couldn't really say that surprised him. He realizes just how true it was when Kurt had told him he was so lucky to have a father like him. The Karofsky boy didn't just have to deal with the confusing and hellish feelings of being homosexual in a small town, but he had absolutely no support system to help come to terms with it. Burt wants justice for his son, but when it came to this particular bully, he realizes the kid was going to get enough punishment from just trying to live his life. He nods his acceptance. "Yeah, I do. I'm going to go now."

As the door closes behind him, Mr. Schuester sits next to Dave and places his hand on the boy's shoulder in an attempt at comfort, "Was your father serious, David?"

He can't help but scoff, "You heard him."

Mr. Schuester nods his understanding and turns to Principal Sue, "I'm going to take David to my place, Sue. Could you get Holly to cover for me today?"

Dave's eyes widen in shock. He doesn't know what to think, he just stares gratefully at the Spanish teacher and breathes out a very sad, "Thank you, Mr. Schuester."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Dave had grabbed a couple of things from his locker, Will was grateful classes were in so there wouldn't be any gawking. Despite still being quite angry at the violence that had escalated earlier that morning, his heart beat with pity for the large boy trailing sullenly behind him as they walk out to his car. David Karofsky was the prime example of how bullying is entirely about nurture, not nature.

The drive to Will's apartment is uncomfortably silent. He can't even rely on the consolation of his Journey's Greatest Hits CD to fill the void; his stereo had stopped working a few weeks ago. When he pulls into his car port, Dave follows his teacher up the pathway towards the building entrance. When they reach the apartment, Will opens the front door for the jock, "Come in, make yourself at home."

Dave looks around. The apartment is tasteful and clean. It looks as though Mr. Schuester still had a wife, it did not resemble the apartment of a newly divorced single man. The décor appeared very feminine. The only thing that seemed at all masculine was a number of action DVDs scattered about on the coffee table.

"The Boondock Saints, that's a great movie."

Will nods his agreement and points towards the couch, "Have a seat, David. Would you like anything to drink?"

Dave moves to sit on the couch, "Uh, I'm okay, Mr. Schuester. Thanks."

Will nods and moves to sit on the large chair next to the couch. He sits there for a few minutes, watching Dave fidget nervously with the hem of his jacket, and keeping his eyes glued to a spot on the coffee table. He finally decides to bridge the noise gap and asks, "Well, would you like to talk about what happened today?"

Dave's face pales, the last thing he could possibly want to do at that moment was talk about what was plaguing his brain. Finding words were failing him at that moment, he merely shakes his head.

"That's okay. A lot happened today. And you might not want to talk to me about your feelings about your sexuality…"

"I'm not gay," Dave interrupts. He sighs to himself. Even after everything that had happened today, he still can't admit it to himself. He still finds his default setting to be the proclamation of his heterosexuality, no matter how far from reality that is. 

Will's eyes reflect the immense sympathy he was feeling for the confused teenager at that moment. "Look, David, I know it can't be easy for you, it's not easy for anyone, but you are safe here, from judgment, I would like to try and help you…" He starts at the sound of Dave slamming his fist against the edge of the coffee table.

Dave stands up, "I don't need your help or your pity!" His eyes shining with a trace of wetness, "I need to be normal! I don't want this! I don't want these… These feelings! I'm supposed to be a man!"

Will watches calmly as the bereft teenager paces in front of the length of the couch, "David, you are a man, and having sexual or romantic feelings for another man doesn't make you any less of one, doesn't make you abnormal. You're basing your opinion on what a man should be from the kind of man who kicks his own son out for being different."

Dave halts his movement and just stares at his teacher. It was as if his whole world had started to crumble around him. He WAS basing everything he believed in on the voice of a man who could not even show even a slight amount of affection toward his only son. A man who berated him as a young child for crying. A man who refused to let him watch any musical films for fear of him becoming a pansy. A man who forced him into any and all sports at too young of an age to train him to be a real man. A man who's bigoted views made him treat people like dirt. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have thought that being the tough guy, the bully, the asshole, would have gotten the love and respect he had so desperately craved from his father? 

Dave slumps to the couch and for the first time since he was a child, starts to cry. He hunches over, his face in his hands as his body shaking with sobs. He cries for all of the years he held back his tears for fear of a smack or worse from the man who was supposed to love him no matter what. He cries for all of the kids who he had mercilessly abused over the years for an acceptance and validation from a man who had never and will never give it. He cries for all of those times he hated himself for still becoming what he had been trained to not become.

Will moves from his spot and sits next to Dave on the couch, he gently pulls the boy forward into a side hug, rubs his upper back and just lets the teenager cry. He knew he had to provide the comfort this boy had probably never once been given.

After a good thirty minutes of sobbing, Dave is truly exhausted. Will had pulled his couch out into a bed, gave him a blanket, and told the younger man to just sleep. After Dave finally falls asleep, Will grabs his keys, leaves a note for Dave with his cell phone if he woke up before he got back, and walks out of the door. He flips open his phone and dials a number, after three rings he is greeted with a stern, "Principal Sue."

"Hey, Sue, it's Will. Can you text me David Karofsky's address? I want to try and talk to his parents."

"I think that's probably some sort of violation of something, but if you are planning on using it to take a bat to that smug asshole's car, I think I can make an exception…"

Will rolls his eyes, "No, Sue, I really just want to talk to them."

She sighs, "Fine, but I know people, we could get something arranged that would never get linked back to us. I'm still good friends with some of the boys in the special forces and…"

"No, Sue, just text me the address." He closes his phone before the woman got any other ideas in her head and waits patiently to start his car until he gets the text he is waiting for.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt wakes up to extremely bright lights over his head and a strange object in his nose. He tries to sit up and instantly feels pain. He groans and starts to look around. He realizes he is in a hospital bed and finds he is met with relieved and smiling faces. Burt stands and leans over, stroking the hair out of his son's eyes,

"Hey, kid. How are you feeling?"

He sighs, "Like I've been run over by a train."

"Yeah, the Karofsky-Azimio express," Finn interjects bitterly.

Kurt raises his brow, slightly impressed with his soon to be step-brother's rather witty comment. "What happened?"

"Those goons beat the hell out of you for no good reason!"

Carole touches her son's arm in an attempt to calm him down, "Honey, Kurt's had enough stress, let's try to not yell." 

Finn nods at his mother, but still appears to be incredibly angry. Carole turns to her soon to be husband, "Burt, honey, do you know what happened? I hope those boys were expelled."

Burt nods, "Yes, that Azimio kid was expelled. Karofsky was given a week's suspension…"

He is accosted with simultaneous, "What?"'s from Carole and Finn.

He raises his hand to halt them, "From what we understand, Karofsky didn't actually attack Kurt in that confrontation."

"Bullshit!"

"Finn!"

Finn appears chagrined, "Sorry, Mom. But I'm serious, he has it out for Kurt, there's no way he didn't do this!"

Burt sighs, "He said that he started the fight, and he did kick your friend Sam, but he never once hit or kicked Kurt," He looks to his son and asks gently, "Is that true? Because if he lied, I don't care, I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him."

Kurt's memory was a little fuzzy, he remembers the threat, the again almost kiss, the accusation and then it was all a blur of punches, kicks, and pain. But if he thinks about it, the few times he had looked up, Karofsky had just stood there, not stopping his friend, but not helping him. Actually, he remembers that Karofsky eventually pulled Azimio back before he was surrounded by Finn and Mr. Schuester. He slowly nods, "Yeah, Dad. It's true. Karofsky didn't really do anything, he just watched. Like everyone else…" He adds bitterly.

Burt nods, "Then yeah, that kid is going to have enough punishment as it is."

Carole looks at him bemusedly, "How do you figure, honey? One week's suspension still doesn't seem like a suitable punishment."

Burt moves to sit down, "Well, I don't really think it's my place to talk about it, but if what that kid said was true, it won't come as a shock to you, Kurt."

Kurt looks curiously at his father, "What are you talking about, Dad?"

"I was in the principal's office when Karofsky and his father were there. The kid admitted that he had told Azimio that you had hit on him, and caused the fight, but he had actually hit on you."

All three of the listeners gasped. Kurt asks, "He just came out and said it? What happened?"

Burt shakes his head as he recalls the older Karofsky's absurd reaction, "Yeah, poor kid, his father said some things, told his boy to never come home."

Kurt feels another pang of sympathy for his tormentor, it slowly transitions into an overwhelming swelling in his heart for his own father, and an appreciation of just how damn lucky he is. "So, where did he go?"

Burt shrugs, "Don't really know. I left after they decided the punishment."

Kurt frowns. He isn't used to feeling sympathy for someone who had been consistently making his life a living hell for as long as he had been in high school. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't so altruistic that he'd forgive this bully just because he so happened to be a conflicted, closeted homosexual, who had just been kicked out of his home by his father, but he could still feel sorry for the guy. He decides he wants and needs a change of subject; he turns to Finn, "How's Sam doing?"

Finn laughs, "Oh, man, that guy, he gets the crap beat out of him, and when he wakes up, the first thing he asks is if there's bruises on his abs! But, yeah, he's fine. He has a sprained ankle, and some bruises and cuts and stuff, but other than that, he's fine."

Kurt smiles and as his new family all start discussing Sam's abs, he found his thoughts trailing back to Karofsky. He can't understand why he felt the need to know if the jock was alright, because he certainly had no intention on forgiving him, but he just couldn't fathom having to go through what he's going through, literally alone. David Karofsky was going to need a friend, an ally, and goddamn himself, he knew he was going to be the one to offer that.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Will Schuester pulls up alongside of the curb in front of the Karofsky residence. He inhales deeply to prepare himself for, well, he's not really sure at that point. He hadn't really planned out what he was going to say, he was just hoping that the boy's parents would listen to what he had to say. He exits his car and approaches the front door of a house that could have rivaled the Brady Bunch's. He rings the doorbell and waits, feeling a little anxious as he hears the footsteps of someone approaching the door.

A woman, who didn't appear to be much older than Will, dressed in a very classic black and white polka dotted dress, opens the door. She smiles softly, "Can I help you?"

Will smiles back, "My name is Will Schuester, I'm one of the teachers at McKinley high school."

She frowns at that revelation and sighs sadly, "Is this about David?"

Will nods, "Yes, Mrs. Karofsky. I was hoping I could talk to you and your husband?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Schuester. My husband is at work and I'm afraid he's quite adamant about his stance in regards to David." She starts to close the door when Will halts her.

"He's your son…"

Mrs. Karofsky looks as though she is about to cry, and replies in a very monotone and trained manner, "I'm afraid he isn't. Not any longer."

Will sighs, "Then please, at least let me come in and get some of his things."

She stares at him for a few moments before acquiescing, "Okay, but you have to be very quick."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dave wakes up with a start. He had been dreaming about running through a never ending forest, towards or from something, he isn't really sure, all he knows is that it was a terrifying place. He shakes his head and looks around. He suddenly remembers where he is and sighs. It hadn't been part of his terrible dream. He hadn't dreamed that he was suddenly an orphan. A fucking gay orphan. He pulls the blanket off of himself and stands up.

"Mr. Schuester?" He glances around the still apartment. The lack of a reply makes him feel uneasy. He walks towards the kitchen and calls the teacher's name again. No answer, then he notices the note that had been left on the dining table.

'David, I've gone out to run a couple of errands, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, my cell number is 555-5309, call if you need anything at all. – Mr. Schue'

The last thing Dave wanted was food, so he decides to have a better look around the apartment. He notices the hallway that, assumedly, led to bedrooms and a bathroom-had several framed pictures hanging on it. Some were of Mr. Schuester when he had been younger with a group of kids. He wonders if they had all been in the glee club together. His breath hitches when he sees one section of the wall completely dedicated to McKinley's current glee club. There is a great shot of them in black and gold costumes, all in some sort of pose. He isn't sure if the pose was done on purpose, or at the end of a performance, but instantly his eyes are drawn to the smaller boy standing on the left side. His smile beaming from the picture, making the still have more life than he had ever seen in a photograph. He traces his fingers over the face of picture Kurt Hummel and sighs sadly. If only he could do that in reality. If only he could be the cause of such an amazing smile. He removes the photo off of its hook and walks back into the living room. He isn't sure how long he sits there, just staring and gently touching the picture, but when he hears the lock on the front door click open, he quickly hides the picture inside of his jacket.

He looks toward the door and sees Mr. Schuester struggling with a couple of large boxes and a couple duffell bags slung over each shoulder. Dave instantly rushes to the teacher's aide and grabs the boxes from him.

"Thanks," Mr. Schuester chuckles. "Guess I'm not as strong as I used to be…"

Dave smiles half heartedly. He notices that the duffell bags have the McKinley logo on them. His brow furrows in slight confusion, "What's all this stuff?"

Will places the duffell bags on the ground near the couch, "It's some of your clothes, school books, and some other things I thought you'd might want to have."

Dave's throat goes dry, "How'd you get all of this stuff?"

Will freezes. He didn't want to lie to the boy, but he had already been through so much emotional trauma for his lifetime, he didn't want to add anymore pain. His father brushing him off entirely was one thing, but finding out your mother is completely on board with such a callous decision? No one deserved to be hit with that sort of information, at least, not all in the same day. "Sue called and said this stuff had been dropped off at the school for you, so I picked it up."

Dave sighs sadly, "Oh."

Will decides to change the subject, "So, I was thinking Chinese for dinner, I picked up your assignments for the day, might as well keep up with your school work, but I would understand if you would want a break tonight. We could watch a movie or something?"

Dave looks at the teacher in absolute awe; he couldn't even try to stop the question from coming out, "Why are you being so nice to me, Mr. Schue? I've done nothing but torture your glee club, I'm not a nice person."

Will sighs and approaches the younger man. He sits down at the table and points to the chair next to him, silently requesting Dave to also sit down. After Dave takes his seat, Will starts answering the boy's question, "Look, I will never condone your actions. Bullying is terrible and inexcusable. I won't say you're an angel, David, but I'm not going to say you're a bad person. You're young, scared, confused, but your actions don't define who you are as a human being. Who you are is determined by the way your actions mold you. If you got more violent, aggressive, and turned into a monster that would inevitably end up in prison, it would be in direct relation to the decisions you make now. If you use the mistakes you've made to make the right decisions for you, you will head in the direction you want to go. It's not too late, and you're going to have a week away from all of the outside influences that may cloud your judgment. I hope you really spend this week thinking about how you want to be, who you want to be, and what you want. And I'll gladly listen if you want."

Dave nods mutely. It was going to be a long week.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt is slightly annoyed that morning as he makes his way to his locker. He'd almost wished he had agreed to stay home for the rest of the week like his father had wanted, but he absolutely refused to miss any classes and have to make up for it later. Not to mention, his injuries were nowhere near as bad as they could have been, he had several dark bruises and a cracked rib, but he was actually damn lucky. Luckier than some young kids who find themselves on the other end of a gay bashing. He also refuses to permit anyone thinking less of him, or thinking him weak. He grabs the book he needs for French and starts heading towards the class. He walks passed Mr. Schue's Spanish classroom and notices Ms. Holiday inside writing something on the white board, the only words he could make out were 'Jersey Shore'.

"Ms. Holiday?"

The energetic blonde whips around, "Kurt, oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

He smiles, "Thanks, are you subbing for Mr. Schue again?"

She nods happily, "Yes, he'll be out for the rest of the week, so you'll get me for glee club again as well!"

Kurt couldn't help but grin, he feels just as excited about that as Ms. Holiday appears to be. Curiosity gets the better of him though and he presses for more information, "That's wonderful, but is Mr. Schuester okay? I mean, he isn't sick again, is he?"

"Oh, no, not at all! A kid got suspended for a week and kicked out of his house, so Mr. Schuester took him in, and so he has to stay home with the kid, which is a drag, but I'm guessing it's to make sure the kid doesn't hock his stuff or something."

Kurt quirks his brow. That is interesting; the kid had to have been Karofsky. How many other students were suspended for a week yesterday AND kicked out of their house? Kurt thanks Ms. Holiday and promises to see her after classes in glee. At least he knew that Karofsky was somewhere safe. He wasn't going to even begin to contemplate why that relieved him so much.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt is walking to the cafeteria, his arm linked with Mercedes, when he notices Finn off in a corner, whispering something to Jacob. His blood instantly runs cold, "Mercedes, I'll meet you inside, okay?"

She nods and once she disappears, Kurt approaches the pair. Jacob was grinning like a child who had found all of his Christmas presents hiding in the closet. Or, well, Chanukah presents. Just as Kurt reaches them, he hears Jacob thank Finn before scurrying off. He folds his arms and stares at his soon to be step-brother, "What was that all about?"

Finn smirks, "Just some well overdue payback."

The smaller boy frowns, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry about it." Finn attempts to walk off when Kurt grabs the sleeve of his jacket.

"Finn, what did you do? What did you tell Jacob?" His tone serious and very concerned. He has a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I just gave him a little inside information on the sexuality of the school's favorite bully." Finn shrugs, "What's the big deal? After everything he's done, it's the least he deserves."

Kurt feels sick. He releases his grip on Finn's jacket and smacks the boy upside his head.

"Oww! What the hell'd you do that for?" Finn rubs the spot where he'd been smacked and glared at the smaller boy.

Kurt huffs in aggravation, "Well, for one, stooping to a bully's level!"

Finn looks a little ashamed at that.

"And second, for outing someone! That's terrible! That is one of the most difficult and painful decisions a gay person has to come to terms with. Accepting it and then finding the courage to tell the people you know, people you care about. It's a decision that should be made when you're completely ready, not spread around as dirty gossip in an attempt at ruining one's reputation!"

Finn looks a little dumbfounded and merely replies, "Oh." He looks at Kurt and attempts an innocent smile, "My bad?"

Kurt rolls his eyes, "Yes, you're bad. You're very bad. That was an awful thing to do. Remember how you felt when the whole school found out about Quinn's pregnancy from Jacob's trashy blog? Well, imagine that feeling and multiply it by a thousand, and maybe then you'll get a semblance of an idea of how it would feel to be outed to your entire high school."

"Maybe I could go talk to Jacob and convince him to not write it?" Finn looks down at the smaller boy with a very hopeful expression.

"You could try, but I doubt it. You'll be lucky to convince him to not write that the reason he knows this tidbit is because his source is Finn Hudson, and the reason Finn Hudson knows is because it was from firsthand experience."

It takes a second to register just exactly what Kurt had implied. Finn's eyes widen with fear, "Shit, you think he'd do that?"

"I think Jacob would throw his own mother under a bus if it got him a few more readers."

"Shit." Finn runs off in the direction Jacob had disappeared.

Kurt stands there for a moment and rubs his temples with both of his hands. Finn's heart had been in the right place, but sometimes the jock just did not think. He sighs in frustration. Through all of the humiliation he had been through, he could not even imagine how he would have felt had he not been the one to tell his friends, family, and school peers that he was gay. Karofsky wasn't even as comfortable with himself or in his own skin the way Kurt was. It was these sorts of situations that brought young gay teens to thoughts and even suicidal actions. Shit. He knew what he had to do. Goddamn his altruism.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dave had just gotten out of the shower when he hears the persistent banging on Mr. Schuester's front door. He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist as he rushes out of the bathroom to the door. He assumes that the teacher had forgotten his key or something and thus didn't even think twice about opening the door in his current state of undress. His jaw drops when his eyes land on the last person he would have ever expected to have been on the other side. Kurt fucking Hummel.

Kurt isn't expecting Karofsky to be the one to open the door, let alone glistening and dripping, evidence of a fresh shower, and clad only in a white bath towel. His mouth went dry. His comment about the jock's physique being chubby had been entirely incorrect. Burly, bulky, built, a number of alliterative terms popped into his mind, and none of them even remotely resembled the adjective 'chubby'. He clears his throat, "Can I come in?"

Dave shakes his head in confusion but steps aside to invite Kurt in, "What are you doing here? Are you here to see Mr. Schuester?"

"Umm, actually, I came to talk to you."

"How did you know I was here?"

Kurt shrugs noncommittally, "My dad told me what happened at school and Ms. Holiday let it slip that Mr. Schuester took in a student, I merely put two and two together."

Dave steps back as Kurt starts walking inside. "Ye… Yeah, come in. I… I'm going to ummm… I'm going to get dressed, I'll be right back."

Kurt nods and walks towards the couch to sit down. He only waits for a few minutes before Karofsky returns, wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt. The jock moves to sit next to Kurt on the couch. The pair sit there in awkward silence for a few minutes before they both start to speak at the same time,

"Like I said, I came to…"

"I'm so sorry, Kurt…"

They both chuckle, a hint of nervousness in both of their tones. Dave shakes his head, "You were going to say?"

Kurt gives a small smile, "I was saying, I came to talk to you. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I don't want to get you upset, or anymore upset than you already are, but I thought it was only right to tell you what you may have to expect when you come back on Monday. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that, or any of what you're dealing with and…" Kurt cant stop himself from rambling, he knows he is avoiding the point, but he thinks maybe if he prolongs the revelation, it won't seem as bad.

Dave looks at the blabbering smaller boy dazedly, trying to process the jumble of words that seem to be pouring out of his mouth. He decides to just enjoy the rambling, this was the most civilized conversation they had ever had, and he kind of found himself enjoying it. He realizes he should have paid a little more attention, because Kurt had finished talking, and all he had managed to catch was the last word, 'outed'. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, Jacob may or may not out you and what happened to the entire school. Finn was really upset about what happened and thought that would be the best means of revenge."

Dave nods and shrugs, "It's not like I don't deserve it."

Kurt is taken aback. That had been the very last reaction he was expecting. He looks at the jock's face, which now appears to be filled with a mellow sadness. "No one deserves to be outed."

Dave scoffs, "Are you kidding me with this, Kurt? I harass you, I bully you, I do all of these terrible things to you for the past couple years, try to make your life as miserable as I could, threaten your life if you reveal my secret, stand by and do nothing while someone beats the shit out of you, and you come here to warn me that everyone at school is going to find out I… I'm… Uh…"

"Gay?" Kurt offers.

"Whatever, I don't get you. Why? Why would you try to warn me? After everything I've put you through? Tell me." The last part had sounds more like a plea than a command.

Kurt shrugs, "I don't really know, to be honest. I mean, I haven't forgiven you for the hell you put me through, nor do I intend to, but I think I kind of understand where you're coming from. A dark place filled with fear and confusion. No one should have to go through that alone, no matter how much of an asshole he is or was. And at the end of the day, you were the ONLY person in that hallway that put a stop to Azimio, well, I mean, Sam did try, but fat lotta good that did me."

Dave chuckles.

Kurt smiles, "See? I think there could potential... You have the potential to be the kind of person you want to be. You just need to stop hurting people, bullying, and stealing first kisses."

Dave lifts his gaze to meet Kurt's, the smaller boy is still smiling, but there is a sadness in his eyes. Dave's gut twists with guilt. "I'm sorry."

Kurt waves his hand dismissively, "It's in the past now…"

"No, it's not okay. Kurt, I am really, truly, sorry. I'm sorry for every slushie, for every dumpster toss and locker slam. I'm sorry for making you feel scared or, I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ruining your first kiss. I know you won't forgive me, but I am sorry."

Kurt gently grasps Dave's hand in his own. "You don't need forgiveness right now, Dave," Kurt marvels at how strange it feels to say the jock's first name, "What you need is to know you are not alone, okay? That you have people to talk to, that you have someone who will listen if you have need of it. That, with time, you could have a true friend who will be there for you."

Dave shakes his head in amazement, "I don't deserve that, I…"

"Okay, stop with that, no more self-hatred. You've had enough of that for two lifetimes, time to start moving on!"

"But I deserve all of the pain in…"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Kurt sighs in exasperation; he leans forward and shuts the older boy up with a gentle press of his lips. He let his lips linger for a little longer than he had planned, but he has no intention on deepening the kiss. He pulls back and lets out a quick laugh at the dumbfounded expression on Dave's face. Kurt pulls a piece of paper and a pen from his satchel and starts to quickly scribble, "No more self-hatred. I'm giving you my number and the number for the Trevor Project."

Dave quirks his brow, "Huh?"

"The Trevor Project is a non-profit organization that helps gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth who are feeling suicidal."

"I'd never…"

Kurt gently smacks the jock's hand, "I didn't say you were, but their hotline is 24 hours, and there's always someone on the other end who will gladly listen to anything you have to say. Even if you're just feeling lonely and want someone who can understand where you're coming from."

Dave looks at the smaller boy, nodding at the subtle hint, "So, the likelihood of you staying here to make out with me is not very high?"

Kurt laughs, not a malicious or mocking laugh, but an amused and endeared laugh. "Dave, what you need, more than anything right now, is a friend, maybe a few. You need to break out of your comfort zones and try to find yourself. What I'm offering is better than a make-out session. You probably don't even have actual feelings for me; it's more likely that you were fixated on me because you actually KNEW I was gay. You just need to work on being you, before you could even begin to get ready for being in a couple."

Dave nods, he wants to argue, protest, kiss the smaller boy again, but he knows it would be moot.

Kurt squeezes his hand again and moves to stand, "Okay, well, I'm glad we talked. I'm going to go home, I'm still exhausted from yesterday."

Dave winces, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Well, no, be sorry, just stop saying it. I know you are." He smiles at Dave as the jock follows his actions and walks him to the door.

Dave opens the door for Kurt, but halts him before he walks out, "Can I ask you something?"

Kurt turns to look at him, "Sure?"

Dave bites his lip nervously before asking, "If… If I hadn't been an asshole. If I had just been Dave, random hockey player, who happened to be gay and into you, do you, well, do you think we could have had a shot? Like, a real shot?"

Kurt looks up at the taller boy, keeping his eyes locked with Dave's, "I… I honestly don't know."

Dave nods and looks away, "Okay. Well, drive safe."

Kurt lifts his hand to tilt Dave's face up, looking into his eyes again, "Just because I don't have the answer, doesn't mean the answer isn't the one you want."

They exchange smiles and Dave watches as Kurt walks out of the main building hallway before he closes the door. Kurt approaches his car and as he gets in and starts the engine, he stares at the direction he had just come from. He smiles to himself, he is pretty sure he had just forgiven David Karofsky.

**The End.**


End file.
